[click on name for biographical information]

• Ms. Jennifer Renee Bellamy, Legislative Counsel, United States House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Spencer Bachus, Alabama 6th District
• Dr. Chenavis Evans, Human Resource Manager for Total Systems Services (TSYS)
• Ms. Elise M. Farnham, President of Illumine Consulting
• Ms. Jennifer McCullars Johnson, Instructor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Auburn University
• Ms. Mary Alice Kenley, Professional Lobbyist
• Dr. Barbara Pitts Miller, Assistant Vice President for the Office of Development at Auburn University
• Ms. Catherine F. Neiner, Director of Career Planning for Agnes Scott College
• Ms. Georgette M. Norman, Director of Troy University Rosa Parks Museum and an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Communication and Dramatic Arts at Auburn University at Montgomery
• Ms. Frieda Penick, Retired from Nursing Profession and previously served as Head of the Mentoring Program with Lady Tiger Basketball at Auburn University
• Ms. Mary Sue Polleys, Professional Educator and Politician
• Ms. Sarah Skipper, Associate Director, Center for Leadership Connections at Auburn University
• Dr. Christa Slaton, Professor of Political Science at Auburn University and director of Auburn University’s Professional Education Program for Elections and Voter Registration Administrators
• Ms. Tara A. Smith, Director, Public Affairs of the Corporate Affairs Division,
  National Association of Manufacturers
• Ms. Susan Story, President and CEO of Gulf Power Company
• Ms. Sandra Ford Walston, The Courage Expert™
• Pebblin Walker Warren, Alabama State Representative for District 82

JENNIFER RENEE BELLAMY
Legislative Counsel, United States House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Spencer Bachus, Alabama 6th District, September 2003-Present.

Judicial law clerk, District Court of Maryland, 2002-2003.  Admitted to the Maryland Bar, 2003; Law clerk, Pittman, Hooks, Dutton, Kirby & Hellums, P.C. 2000-2002. 

Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, J.D., 2002, Dean's List; Phi Delta Phi, Legal Honor Society; University of Alabama- Birmingham, B.A.(History & Political Science) cum laude, 1999.

Member, Maryland State Bar Association.  Member, CBA Professional Development Committee, Everybody Wins! Reading mentor.

Born in South Bend, Indiana, April 28, 1976. [BACK TO TOP]

CHENAVIS C. EVANS
Chenavis C. Evans is a native of Auburn, Alabama. Dr. Evans holds four degrees from Auburn University which includes a BA in Psychology, M.Ed in Counselor Education, MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Dr. Evans has over 15 years of consulting, strategic planning, training and project management experience. As a leader in Human Resource Management for Total System Services (TSYS), Dr. Evans is responsible for the company’s overall strategic corporate leadership and organizational development initiatives both domestically and internationally. She is currently a member of the Society of Industrial Psychology, Chairperson Columbus SHRM Legislative Committee, serves on the HR advisory committee of Congressman Westmoreland, State of Georgia, and a founding fellow for the National Endowment of the Public Trust.

ELISE M. FARNHAM
Elise Farnham has over 30 years experience in the risk management and insurance industry.   She is President of Illumine Consulting, a firm dedicated to providing experience and knowledge to the risk management and insurance communities through continuing education and claims management consulting.

Elise began her career in the insurance industry in 1973 with Crawford and Company. She became a multi-line adjuster and in 1978 was promoted as the first female claims branch manager for the company.  She has worked in Texas, New York and Georgia in various management positions.  She has held senior level positions with The Harmonie Group, CSB Group, and GAB Robins, NA.

Ms. Farnham is a member of the CPCU Society and currently chairs the Media Task Force.  She has previously served the Society as S. E. Regional Governor, Executive Committee member, president of the Atlanta Chapter of CPCU, and on numerous task forces, including the Ethics Certification Task Force and the CPCU Claims Section Committee.  Elise is a member of the ARM , AIC, and CPCU Advisory Boards,  which assist the American Institute for CPCU in reviewing and planning ARM, AIC, and CPCU course material.   She serves on the Board of Ethical Inquiry for the American Institute for CPCU.

Elise is Past President of the National Association of Insurance Women (International) (1998/1999) having served on the Board of Directors for 5 years.  She was Regional Vice President of Region 1.  Prior to that, she served two terms as President of NAIW-NYC.  Currently, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Parliamentarian for the Insurance Professionals of Atlanta.  In 2004, she received the AAMGA Achievement Award from the Georgia State Council of NAIW for her contributions to the association.  In 2002 and 2004, she was named Insurance Woman of Atlanta, and in 1993, she was chosen National Claims Professional of the Year.  .

Elise is an associate member of The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and is a member of their professional development faculty.  She teaches the “WC Management” course and has developed a new course, “Claims Management.”    Ms. Farnham also serves on the Board of Directors for the Registered Professional Adjusters Society.

JENNIFER MCCULLARS JOHNSON
Jennifer McCullars Johnson is an instructor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Auburn University. She teaches public speaking and numerous other communication and journalism courses. Her work at Auburn also extends into information technology. She is a WebCT Specialist with the Instructional Multimedia Group of the Office of Information Technology. In addition to her duties at the university, Jennifer is the executive assistant for the Southern States Communication Association.

Current service opportunities include:  Schlarb Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs (Board President); Eastern Health System Foundation Board; Leading Edge Institute Board; Greater Birmingham Republican Women Board; Founder, St. Clair County Women’s Business Association.

Although she holds a theological degree from Vision Christian University, Mary Alice chose to serve in the public arena.  In recent years, however, she has abbreviated her schedule to allow for conducting women’s retreats and counseling one day each week at her church in Pell City.

Mary Alice has been married to Bob Kenley for 40 years.  Dr. Kenley retired from the Christian school ministry and is spending his “retirement” years teaching math at Pell City High School.  Bob and Mary Alice are the parents of two sons, Rip and Tom, who have followed their father into non-pulpit ministries; Rip as manager of a Christian television station in Macon, GA., and Tom as a missionary to Romania.  Both sons are married to awesomely wonderful and strong young women—Mona is a public school teacher and Kristi serves in Romania with Tom.

Bob and Mary Alice live on Logan Martin Lake with 15-year-old dachshund Fred and enjoy travel, reading (he-Civil War stuff; she-biographies), and entertaining. [BACK TO TOP]

BARBARA PITTS MILLER
Barbara Pitts Miller is presently an Assistant Vice President for the Office of Development. She has the leadership role to direct, mentor, and monitor the planning, execution and assessment of fund raising actions by a designated group of constituencies at Auburn University which includes Architecture, Athletics, Business, Education, Liberal Arts, the Library and Museum. Dr. Miller also serves as a major gift fund raiser for University priorities and provides leadership and direction do Development Officers assigned to her. She came to Auburn University in November of 2003, from The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she served as Associate Director of Gift Planning for five years. Dr. Miller has a track record in assessing, cultivating, soliciting, closing and stewarding major and planned gifts.

While majoring in Psychology and Sociology, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Oklahoma University located in Norman, Oklahoma, with a major in Human Relations. Dr. Miller received her Juris Doctorate from Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Currently, Ms. Neiner is Director of Career Planning for Agnes Scott College.  Previously, she was Director of MBA Career Services at Georgia Tech.  Ms. Neiner was a founding member of the MBA Career Services Council and served on the first board of directors.  She serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Association of Colleges and Employers.  In addition, she has held leadership positions in a number of professional organizations.  She has been an invited presenter at career management conferences and has published articles on interviewing, career search strategies and communications. 

A Fulbright grantee, Ms. Neiner will study in Berlin in October 2006.  She is an alumna of the University of Georgia, and resides in Atlanta, Georgia USA.

Contact Information: Catherine Neiner, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030, 404 – 471 – 6425
cneiner@agnesscott.edu [BACK TO TOP]

GEORGETTE M. NORMAN
Georgette, the daughter of the late Juliette G. and George J. Norman, Jr., was born, reared and educated through grade 12 in Montgomery AL at Alabama State College Laboratory School.  Her further formal and life education was received at Fisk University in Nashville TN, where she earned a B.A. in History, and at Hampton Institute in Hampton VA, where she received a M.A. in Education. She also holds a certificate in Humanistic Education from the University of Miami (Miami, FL).

Survival has not always been easy but along the way she has managed to share some of what life and school has taught her by teaching reading, creative writing, history and government in public and private schools on the mainland and on St. Croix, USVI and introduction to theater, interpersonal communications, group dynamics, and pubic speaking at the College of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus.  Skills in needs analysis, program planning, design and evaluation have proven invaluable to her as a research and development coordinator for the Caribbean Center for Understanding Media, as well as, program planner for the National Endowment for the Humanities Project – Emancipation: A Second Look and Coordinator/Arts Manage Inn House Productions, a theatrical organization on St. Croix, USVI.

Her interest in drama has led to on and off stage pursuits with little theaters in Atlanta GA, Norfolk, VA, and the Virgin Islands. In 1981 she compiled works of Black American and Caribbean as well as African poets for a theatrical journey through blackness entitled “The Many Faces of Us” which was presented as part of the College of the Virgin Islands’ Black History Celebration. Theatergoers were also treated to her portrait of women called “Womanrise,” the result of an American Association of University Women Branch Grant in 1982.  As a tribute to Black women of Montgomery, she staged the choreopoem “Hands in the Mirror” which was presented at Alabama State University.  She has taught drama to youth in an all high school drama club on the island of St. Croix, creative dramatics to young people in Montgomery under the auspices of the Montgomery Arts Council and was the drama teacher at Springtree/Snow Hill Institute for the Performing Arts in Wilcox Co., AL.

A writer of prose and poetry (for purposes of mental gymnastics and peace of mind) since childhood, she has given public readings and lectures in the Caribbean, Montgomery AL, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Auburn University, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, Minnesota State University Mankato, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, Rhode Island University, Kinston, RI, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT and St. Xavier University, Chicago, IL. She has been published in several issues of the Cruzan Satellite, a 1986 anthology of new Poets and Catalyst, a magazine of heart and mind, edited by Pearl Clege.  In the fall of 1986 she completed a Black Woman’s Calendar/Appointment Book chronicling the achievements of Black women.  A 2-year calendar was published in 1991.  She has also self-published three chap books, From These Roots (’93), Between Seasons – Musings of Georgette (’97) and Between Shore and Sea (“00).

Georgette founded Alabama African-American Arts Alliance (a statewide arts organization and partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts) in 1992 and served as its Executive Director for 7 years.  She is currently the Director of Troy University Rosa Parks Museum and an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Communication and Dramatic Arts at Auburn University at Montgomery where she teaches and directs plays.  She also works as an independent consultant in the arts, education, program design and implementation and conducts workshops in creativity and cultural diversity. Georgette sees herself as an observer and active participant in life and believes her life to be her self-portrait, her masterpiece.

Georgette M. Norman
1273 Rosa Parks Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36108
334/263-3210
Email: impesepese@msn.com [BACK TO TOP]

FRIEDA PENICK
Frieda Penick, hails from the Chicago, IL. area originally. She received her education at Joliet Junior College where she received her associate degree and her subsequent R.N. from Silver Cross Hospital School of Nursing. After living in Eastern Canada, Ms. Penick transferred to the Atlanta area, where she resided with her husband and three children. She retired after 35 years in the nursing field and moved to Auburn, Alabama in April of 1999. She has been head of the mentoring program with Lady Tiger Basketball and is presently a member of Cornerstone United Methodist Church. She is a legacy member to the international sorority of Beta Sigma Phi.

She is past president of the Lambda Chapter and past vice-president and president of the Atlanta City Council of Beta Sigma Phi. Her husband John, and sons Tim and Dan, are all graduates of Auburn University. Her daughter Susan is a graduate of Furman University and is the Government Relations Officer for Wellstar Corporation in Atlanta, Ga. Frieda’s travels have taken her to the British Isles, Holland, Germany, and Italy. She and her husband have also traveled extensively in the U.S. She is the proud grandmother of Sydney, Parker, and Jack. [BACK TO TOP]

MARY SUE POLLEYS
Mary Sue Polleys, from Columbus, Georgia, balances the roles of professional educator, politician, wife/mother/grandmother, and community servant.  She graduated from Mercer University with a double major in Speech Communication and Education.  She earned the M.A. Degree from Auburn University in Speech Communication and the Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, also from Auburn.  She has taught students of all ages and in varied settings, from elementary school to the college classroom and corporate boardroom.

Having done extensive private tutoring and corporate training in topics related to communication and leadership, she has also been deeply involved in community service.  For the last 13 years, she has served as Chair of the elected school board that governs the Muscogee County public schools, a system comprised of over 32,000 students and 5,000 employees.  She recently retired from Columbus State University, where, as Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, she directed the undergraduate leadership development program and taught leadership seminars.  Her husband is an attorney, and they have one grown son, a granddaughter, and two beagles named “Auburn” and “Alabama.” [BACK TO TOP]

SARAH SKIPPER
Sarah Skipper currently serves as Associate Director of the Center for Leadership Connections at Auburn University. The Center is a new initiative to be officially launched the fall of 2006 at Auburn. It is the result of a big vision and the hard work of numerous faculty, staff, and students at Auburn over the last two years. The Center will include leadership training, education, research, and outreach opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the community.

Sarah obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Auburn University in 2000.  She worked as an Event Planner for the Direct Marketing Association, a non-profit trade association in New York, New York, before returning to Auburn University to complete her Masters of Education in Higher Education Administration. She has worked in the Office of the Dean of Students at Auburn University since 2003.

Sarah is married to Tripp Skipper who serves as the bi-vocational pastor of Wadley Baptist Church in Wadley, Alabama. Tripp worked as Congressman Mike Rogers District Director until this past January 2006 when he left to pursue his own campaign for State Auditor in the 2006 Election. [BACK TO TOP]

CHRISTA SLATON
Christa Slaton, Professor of Political Science, is the current director of Auburn University’s Professional Education Program for Elections and Voter Registration Administrators. The program is a joint endeavor with the Houston-based Election Center and was designed to professionalize the field of elections administration and to offer certification for officials who complete the program. Nearly 350 voter registrars and elections administrators throughout the nation have completed the program, including Secretaries of State and the Director of the Elections Assistance Commission.

Slaton’s academic life has been devoted to developing the means to engage and empower citizens and to utilize the resources of the university to serve community interests. She was the co-founder of the first university-based mediation center in the United States and the co-designer of a method of deliberative polling that has been utilized by governments from the county level to the national level. More recently, she led a grassroots effort in the western Alabama to create an organization of concern citizens (Uniontown Cares) who partnered with government to tackle community problems and improve the quality of life in their town.

As a pioneer in the field of utilizing information and communication technology to expand democracy, Slaton has been invited to give keynote addresses at international conferences in Germany, Austria, Finland, and Sweden and facilitated conferences in the Czech Republic and Greece. Currently, she serves on the International Advisory Council of the ONDIS project at the University of Tampere, Finland. [BACK TO TOP]

Smith is the lead facilitator for the NAM’s Congressional Insight computer simulation – the organization’s premier political education tool. And, she plays an active role in the NAM’s lobbying strategies, advocacy efforts advertisements, development and coordination of the Association’s annual public affairs conference, as well as various NAM member and employee involvement programs.

Prior to her work at the NAM, Smith worked for CABT, a nonprofit transportation organization.  In this position Smith acted as the director for statewide coalitions in Alabama, Arkansas and Florida, where she was involved in lobbying Members of Congress, as well as state and local governments on pertinent legislation.

In addition, Smith’s other employment positions have included work at a consulting firm; two years at Deere & Company’s office for International and Federal Government Affairs; and one year working for United States Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR).  Smith also interned for Utah Governor Mike Leavitt (R-UT).

Smith was born and raised in Oregon, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with emphasis in Media Studies from the University of Oregon. [BACK TO TOP]

SUSAN STORY
Susan Story is President and CEO of Gulf Power Company, which is a subsidiary of Southern Company--one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States.  Gulf Power Company is headquartered in Pensacola and provides electricity and energy services to over 400,000 customers in 10 counties in Northwest Florida.

She joined Southern Company in 1982 and has served in a number of capacities including Executive Vice-President of Engineering and Construction, Vice-President of Supply Chain Management, Vice-President of Real Estate and Corporate Services, Director of Human Resources, various managerial positions, and nuclear power plant engineer. 

Susan is vice-chair of Enterprise Florida, and serves on the Boards of Directors of the Florida Council of 100, Florida Chamber, Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, The James Madison Institute, Florida’s Great Northwest, Edison Electric Institute CEO Committee, Southeastern Electric Exchange and the Florida Electric Reliability Coordinating Council.  She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, the Board of Trustees for Rebuild Northwest Florida, the Board of Advisors of the Florida Justice Reform Institute and the Board of Advisors of the Moffitt Cancer Center and Step Up for Students.   

Susan was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Florida BRAC Advisory Council where she serves as chair of the Intra-State Activities Committee.  She was appointed by Senator Mel Martinez and serves on the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission.  She is on the Executive Committee of the Volunteer Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.  She also is the liaison for the Pensacola and Shalimar Front Porch initiatives with the Florida Council of 100, in support of Governor Bush’s state-wide program.  She also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Healthcare Accessibility and Affordability and Lt. Governor Toni Jennings’ Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Task Force and Career Education Task Force.  Susan was Honorary Commander of the 33d 60th Fighter Squadron in 2004, where she flew in an F-15 fighter jet.
 
She has received various awards and honors, including the Pensacola Junior College Leaders and Legends Award for Environmental Leadership, the SEDC Florida Economic Development Volunteer of the Year, Sacred Heart Hospital’s Presidential Achievement Award, the Women’s Business Center’s “Women Breaking the Corporate Glass Ceiling Award,” the Girl Scout’s “Woman of Distinction Award,” the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Top 10 Women in Business” for 2002, and both the Distinguished Auburn Engineer Award and the Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award from Auburn University.
 
Susan earned a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University and an MBA from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.  She has attended executive education programs at Duke University and Oxford University in England, as well as completing international business studies at Cambridge University and leadership studies at Harvard.  She has also completed post-graduate work in financial options and derivatives at the University of Alabama, and tort and criminal law at the Birmingham School of Law.

Susan is married to Dr. Joseph L. Story, and teaches a high school Sunday school class at Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church. [BACK TO TOP]

SANDRA FORD WALSTON
Sandra Ford Walston is known as The Courage Expert™. Her 12-point courage leadership diagram called the “Source Wheel” is the result of more than 750 survey forms, and ten years of original research that easily links that there is a direct correlation between your success quotient and your courage quotient. A leadership consultant, national speaker, corporate trainer, Courage Coachä, she specializes in organizational behavior to advance results.

With an emphasis on understanding courage behaviors, individual personality and leadership preferences, she facilitates individuals and groups to discover their hidden talents. Ms. Walston provides skill-based programs for public and private businesses, including Caterpillar, Inc., Proctor & Gamble, Hitachi Consulting, Zanterra Parks and Resorts, IBM, and Society of Women Engineers, to name a few. She is an ad hoc faculty member for the Advanced Management Institute and The Woodhull Institute, and she is a former instructor for the Colorado Society of CPAs and the University of Denver.

Random House published her first book, COURAGE: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman/Reclaiming the Forgotten Virtue, which grew out of five years of research and interviews from women in all walks of life. COURAGE was internationally published in Greece and Brazil, and it was graciously endorsed by Marianne Williamson, Jack Canfield, Neale Donald Walsch, Alexandra Stoddard, and Harriet Rubin, to name few.

Ms. Walston is qualified to administer and interpret the Myers-Briggs Type Indicatorâ and a certified Enneagram teacher, and she enjoys bringing both to her work. Her second book, COURAGE GOES TO WORK (spiritual development at work), is based on interviews from women and men that discloses the courage behaviors they apply at work.
303.696.1010; www.walstoncourage.com; swalston@walstoncourage.com [BACK TO TOP]

PEBBLIN WALKER WARREN
Pebblin Walker Warren is a native of Burke County, Georgia.  She is the daughter of the late Annie G. and Joe H. Walker. He received her B.S. and Masters Degrees from Tuskegee University formerly Tuskegee Institute.   After graduation she was employed by Tuskegee University for 15 years and Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education for 17 years.  She currently serves as the Director of Economic Development at Trenholm State Technical College

Pebblin is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church Tuskegee where she has served as an elder for more than 10 years, and a member of the choir and Outreach Committee.  Pebbllin is very involved in her community and profession.  She is a member of Macon Democrats of the 82nd District, Ladies Auxiliary Alabama Sheriff=s Association, Honorary Member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, Member of the Aid to Inmate Mothers Board of Directors, Charter Member, Montgomery Women Civitan Club, Alabama Counseling Association, State, Regional and National Student Financial Aid Administrators Associations, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Tuskegee Alumnae Chapter.

Pebblin has received numerous honors and recognitions.  Some include Outstanding Volunteer Service Award-Aid to Inmate Mothers, John H. Buchanan, Jr. Distinguished Service Award, Judge for Buffalo Rock James C. Lee Student of the Year Scholarship Program, Outstanding Service Award-Alabama College System Deans of Student Affairs Association, Montgomery Advertiser Community Volunteer Profile.  She regularly participates in the Macon County Relay for Life, and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, and Tutwiler Prison.